Although it is a lifelong journey for everyone, recovery and healing can be a tiring process for mothers. Motherhood comes with its own unique stressors that can pose additional challenges during the healing journey. Also, although moms learn healthy coping skills during treatment, it can be particularly challenging for moms to identify and challenge their negative thoughts. This is especially true post-treatment when there is less support readily available. Challenging negative thoughts post-treatment is possible, however, and there is guidance available that mothers can turn to.
At First Steps Recovery, all steps of the recovery and healing processes are taken into account. Transitioning into one’s normal routine after treatment can be difficult for any client. With mothers, adapting to a sober life while also transitioning back into motherhood and childcare can be extra difficult. The good news is that the services at First Steps Recovery introduce mothers to healthy coping mechanisms that they can turn to at any point in their journeys.
Challenges for Mothers Post-Treatment
Whether mothers sought treatment for mental health issues, addiction, or a combination, they will face unique obstacles post-treatment. There are many consequences unique to women and mothers that arise from substance use disorders (SUDs), for instance. Mothers may lose custody of their children, experience violence or abuse from their partners, or run into other legal complications. Beyond the legal aspects, mothers may experience depression, isolation, lack of motivation, or extreme guilt and shame. When coping with mental health concerns, mothers may experience similar issues.
When mothers return home from inpatient treatment, they can face anxieties as they return to the environment where they formerly used drugs or alcohol (or experienced their strongest mental health symptoms). Mothers who are in recovery from addiction often stop using (or decrease use) during pregnancy and then return to this habit after giving birth. When returning from treatment, this environment can be triggering and can be difficult to face when trying to prevent relapse.
Mothers often also experience depression or anxiety during and after pregnancy, which can eventually lead them to seek and receive treatment. Being immersed in a structured, organized, and supportive environment at First Steps Recovery gives mothers a chance to focus on themselves and their healing process. However, the transition back into one’s home can cause these feelings or symptoms to resurface. Mothers may have a hard time coping as they face more responsibilities while still in the healing process.
Identifying and Challenging Negative Thoughts at First Steps Recovery
Negative thoughts and mindsets are not abnormal in recovery. However, addressing and challenging negative thoughts is important for creating a healthy and peaceful life post-treatment.
First Steps Recovery provides clients with tools and strategies they can use in their post-treatment lives. There is women-specific care that is catered to this demographic, meaning that mothers’ difficulties post-treatment are addressed directly in a productive manner.
Holistic care and extended care are two services that help mothers work on challenging negative thoughts. These women can learn to bring themselves back into the present moment so they can address their thought patterns. Additionally, they can build a support network, possibly of other moms in recovery, to avoid isolation post-treatment.
Challenging Negative Thoughts Through Holistic Care
Holistic therapies at First Steps Recovery include art therapy, equine therapy, wilderness therapy, music therapy, yoga therapy, recreation therapy, physical therapy, and mindfulness therapy. These therapies help clients connect with their creativity, the natural world around them, and their inner selves. Each therapy gives clients a set of coping mechanisms they can turn to both during and after treatment.
Holistic therapies are part of the whole-person approach used at First Steps Recovery. This approach invites clients to address underlying issues on a deeper, more personal level. These holistic practices are not specific to in-person treatment and can be used whenever.
For example, clients who lean more toward creativity may opt for art or music therapies. With these therapies, they can learn to use creative expression in an honest, authentic, and healing manner. Others may feel like they get more results from a meditative approach involving yoga and mindfulness. Regardless of which therapies someone chooses, these holistic practices can be implemented into one’s daily life outside of treatment. Through them, a person can become more centered, feel more self-aware, find greater inspiration, and become motivated to achieve their recovery goals.
The Importance of Taking Time for Self-Care
For mothers, specifically, it is also important to find time for oneself. Balancing childcare, work, and other responsibilities can invite negative thoughts due to stress or feeling overwhelmed. Intentionally carving out time for herself, though, allows a mother to ground herself, take care of herself, and ease her stress on her own. It gives mothers much-needed “downtime,” which is important when transitioning back into a daily routine.
Challenging Negative Thoughts Through Aftercare and Alumni Services
Negative thoughts may also surface when one feels isolated, whether intentionally or not. This may be due to not feeling external support from loved ones or still taking on guilt or shame, leading to self-isolation. Regardless, First Steps Recovery works with clients at all stages of their journey to promote community and support. During their time in treatment, clients build a support network with therapists, doctors, leaders, and peers through clinical and holistic therapies.
Yet, this support does not end after treatment. Aftercare services (otherwise known as our alumni program) are available for all clients. This program is great for those who wish to stay in touch or feel like they need to return to First Steps Recovery at some point post-treatment.
Through the alumni program, mothers can turn to the support system they found during treatment. This group often includes other mothers who share experiences and offer firsthand support or advice. Therapies and relapse prevention strategies are offered in this aftercare model to help mothers transition into, adjust to, and persist in their post-treatment lives.
Here at First Steps Recovery, we understand that mothers may be coping with a lot of stress post-treatment. The environment where mental health symptoms or addiction may have played out can be overwhelming to return to. Moms also have to take on household responsibilities as they try to tend to their own well-being. Fortunately, we offer the tools to help mothers succeed. This begins with holistic therapies and a tight-knit support system. Holistic care offers healthy coping mechanisms for mothers to use at any point in their lives to promote health, well-being, and continued progress. Support is also offered through an alumni group to help mothers avoid becoming isolated. For more information, please call us at (844) 489-0836.
Dr. Curl is the Medical Director and primary on-site provider for First Steps Recovery. He is a Board Certified Internist and Addiction Medicine Specialist having attended the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and completing his residency at Mount Auburn Hospital with Harvard Medical School. Following several years work as an internist and physiatrist (physical medicine and rehabilitation). Dr. Curl completed the Addiction Medicine Fellowship at Howard University in Washington DC and participated as a RAM Scholar (Research in Addiction Medicine). While part of the fellowship, Dr. Curl pursued research investigating the barriers to expanding and improving medication for opioid use disorder. Following his fellowship, Dr. Curl spearheaded the Opiate Use Disorder outpatient clinic and worked in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences within the Howard University Hospital. In 2023, Dr. Curl completed his Board Certification in Addiction Medicine.
